The Music of Elizabeth Alexander

To Make a Prairie

An ethereal setting of Emily Dickinson’s timeless musing on creation and dreams

Music: Elizabeth Alexander

Words: Emily Dickinson

An ethereal setting of Emily Dickinson’s small but timeless poem about creativity, perseverance and vision. Opening with a dream-like piano part and delicate unison vocal lines, To Make a Prairie is embued throughout with an atmosphere of mystery and awe.

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Text

To Make a Prairie

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee —
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Emily Dickinson
© by Little, Brown and Company. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

Performers

Performers

Premiere: Women-in-Music Chorale / Christine Strohl (Columbus, OH)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Glen Ellyn, IL)
Carolyn Slenska, Betsy Yarrison and Mimi Stevens (Alexandria, VA)
Celestia, of The Concord Singers / Michael Sanflippo (Summit, NJ)
Fine Arts Chorale of Kansas City / Terri Teal (Kansas City and Prairie Village, MO)
Good Company! / Steven Hoifeldt (Ames, IA)
Rutgers University Queen’s Chorale / Steven A. Russell (New Brunswick, NJ)